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Simatic Pcs 7Application · Siemens

CVE-2019-10918

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.0 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.0 and earlier (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.1 (All versions < V8.1 with WinCC V7.3 Upd 19), SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.2 (All versions < V8.2 SP1 with WinCC V7.4 SP1 Upd11), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 (All versions < V9.0 SP2 with WinCC V7.4 SP1 Upd11), SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 (All versions), SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal) V14 (All versions < V14 SP1 Upd 9), SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal) V15 (All versions < V15.1 Upd 3), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional V13 (All versions), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional V14 (All versions < V14.1 Upd 8), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional V15 (All versions < V15.1 Upd 3), SIMATIC WinCC V7.2 and earlier (All versions), SIMATIC WinCC V7.3 (All versions < V7.3 Upd 19), SIMATIC WinCC V7.4 (All versions < V7.4 SP1 Upd 11), SIMATIC WinCC V7.5 (All versions < V7.5 Upd 3). An authenticatd attacker with network access to the DCOM interface could execute arbitrary commands with SYSTEM privileges. The vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker with network access to the affected system. Successful exploitation requires authentication with a low-privileged user account and no user interaction. An attacker could use the vulnerability to compromise confidentiality and integrity and availability of the affected system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this security vulnerability was known.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A vulnerability in the DCOM interface of SIMATIC PCS 7 and WinCC products allows an authenticated attacker with network access to execute arbitrary commands with SYSTEM privileges. Successful exploitation requires only a low-privileged user account and no user interaction, enabling full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for the specific affected versions (WinCC V7.3 Upd 19, V7.4 SP1 Upd 11, V7.5 Upd 3, TIA Portal V14 SP1 Upd 9, V15.1 Upd 3) and implement network segmentation to restrict access to DCOM interfaces.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Simatic Pcs 7Application
Affected:<= 8.0= 8.1= 8.2= 9.0
Simatic WinccApplication
Affected:<= 7.2= 7.3= 7.4= 7.5
Simatic Wincc \(tia Portal\)Application
Affected:= 13.0= 14.0= 15.0
Simatic Wincc Runtime ProfessionalApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if SIMATIC PCS 7 or WinCC is installed
    Check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\ or look in C:\Program Files\Siemens for WinCC or PCS 7 directories. Also check Add/Remove Programs for Siemens software entries.
    Affected if The product is installed and matches one of the affected versions.
  2. Determine the installed version of WinCC or PCS 7
    Open the WinCC Explorer or PCS 7 project, go to Help > About, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\WinCC\Version for WinCC or similar path for PCS 7.
    Affected if The installed version is Simatic PCS 7 <= 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, or 9.0; WinCC <= 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, or 7.5; WinCC TIA Portal 13.0, 14.0, or 15.0; or WinCC Runtime Professional any version.
  3. Verify if DCOM is enabled on the system
    Open Component Services (dcomcnfg), navigate to Component Services > Computers > My Computer, right-click and ensure 'Enable Distributed COM on this computer' is checked. Alternatively, check the registry value HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\DCOM Protocols.
    Affected if DCOM is enabled and the vulnerable WinCC/PCS 7 DCOM interface is exposed.
  4. Check network accessibility of DCOM interfaces
    Use netstat or a network scanner to check if TCP ports 135 (RPC) and dynamic DCOM ports are listening and accessible from the network. Review Windows Firewall rules for allowed inbound DCOM traffic.
    Affected if The DCOM interface is reachable over the network from untrusted segments.
  5. Confirm the presence of a low-privileged user account
    Review local or domain user accounts on the system, particularly those with 'Domain Users' or 'Users' group membership that could be used for authentication against the DCOM interface.
    Affected if A low-privileged network-authenticated user exists who could authenticate to the DCOM service.

A user is affected if SIMATIC WinCC or PCS 7 is installed with an affected version, DCOM is enabled, and the DCOM interface is network-accessible to an authenticated attacker.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for the specific affected versions (WinCC V7.3 Upd 19, V7.4 SP1 Upd 11, V7.5 Upd 3, TIA Portal V14 SP1 Upd 9, V15.1 Upd 3) and implement network segmentation to restrict access to DCOM interfaces.

Fix this in Simatic Pcs 7 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-10918 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data